Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus (also known as Sheffield Phil) is a large choir based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The chorus consists of about 190 members from Sheffield and the surrounding area and performs between five and ten concerts each season. A regular venue is Sheffield City Hall, although the choir also performs concerts in the Bridgewater Hall and Leeds Town Hall as well as other national and international venues. The musical director is Darius Battiwalla, who has held the post since 1997. 　　The emergence of Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus stems from an amalgamation of two pre-existing Sheffield musical organisations in the 1930s, the Amateur Musical Society and Sheffield Musical Union. 　　The local Amateur Musical Society was founded in 1864 and run by H W Ibbotson (a local solicitor), having developed from a singing class he initiated in 1857. From 1935, the recently built Sheffield City Hall became the home of an annual series of concerts, which were to be organised by the Amateur Musical Society. The society changed its name to Sheffield Philharmonic Society and its choir, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, became the resident chorus. 　　Founded in 1876 by Henry Coward, the Sheffield Musical Union started as a tonic sol-fa class but grew in stature, undertaking international tours in early 1908 and 1911. In 1937, the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus merged with Sheffield Musical Union, increasing the membership of the choir to almost 400. 　　On 6 February 2008, it was announced that the actor and director Samuel West would become patron of the chorus. He had already appeared with the chorus as the narrator for two performances of an arrangement of Walton's Henry V music in 2005.